Solved! Alienware 15, or 17x?

[Thundersteel]

Hey everyone! My old lady said she would buy me a laptop as a gift and said to start looking at ones. I really want an Alienware but cant decide on which one. I noticed the m17x now has ati 4000 cards in it and was wondering why they dont have the higher mobile ati gpus and if these ati ones are better than the nvidia 260ms they were shipping in them before? I was a proud owner of an m1710 xps for a long time but the gpu went out so time to upgrade. It would be nice to have a little more portability than a 17 as the 15 seem smaller yet im used to a 17inch and was curious if the m17x is really that giant?? I enjoy playing mmos on the couch while watching tv and never had an issue with my old xps and enjoyed the larger screen. Anyways was just looking for some advice on size and wondering how the gpus being shipped with the laptops stack up to whats coming around the corner. It would be either the m15 with a 1gig nvidia or maybe an sli m17 for a lot more money....money is kinda a factor if i keep it around 2k. I do like how they just gave the option for i5 and i7s. This ruled out the m11x. thanks

 

[buwish]

First and foremost, how did you convince the Mrs. to buy you a laptop? Anyways, if you were to switch to a 15 inch model, it would seem quite smaller at first, but you'll get used to it. For example, on the reverse end, I had a 12 inch monitor in a POS HP and switched to my current laptop, which has a 14 inch monitor. It seemed huge at first, but really, I don't even know anymore. I think the reverse will be your case.

In regard to the GPU question, take a look at this link below to make yp your mind about maybe switching brands or waiting until Dell decides to carry the 5k series.

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

 

[Thundersteel]

thx! yeah im pretty grateful for my wife. weve supported each other through the years and she knew i was crushed when my m1710 died and i couldnt afford to get a new lappy. Sold some stocks and here i am. Think im gonna go with the m15x even though only three usbs and power cord is on the side(kinda bugs me). Even though i could afford to get the m17x after configuring it to what i want it would be above 2900 dollars! I think about how i could afford a new desktop with that money and try to remind myself a gaming laptop should be reasonable without getting skyhigh. I dont think i could leave that in my car to run an errand i would be so freaked. 1700 dollars laptop? i could live if it got stolen. So right now im looking at the preconfigured m15x and just upgrading it with the 260m 1gig instead of 512 and getting the 500 hd. I want to be able to run WOW, AOC on highest settings. Im also wondering if the Intel® Core™ i7-620M 2.66GHz (3.33Ghz Turbo Mode, 4M cache) is better or worse than the Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) ? I know they are both i7s any one better for gaming?

 

[buwish]

Take a look at this link for a quick processor comparison:

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

 

[seerwan]

1 - i wouldnt go for any alienware atm cause they seem to be stuck with old-generation gpus.

2 - dual core 620 or quad 720?
depends on if the games u play require 4 cores or 2...

3 - id go for an Asus.
One of those. But i still think that 17.3 inches is large and i advise u find the same specs on a 15.6 inch, its certainly available.
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220702
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220695

 

[seerwan]

there r more powerful cards than the 260, with the newer 40 nm process technology, so less power usage, less cooling, less heat, less annoying fan noise, and of course, better performance.

 

[Thundersteel]

thx guys for the help! think ill wait a little longer and hope they start throwing in 5000 series in their line.